Rear end small revolving type hydraulic shovel

ABSTRACT

A rear end small revolving type hydraulic shovel (tight tail revolving hydraulic excavator) that can improve maintainability of an engine and secures a wide foot space of an operator&#39;s cab is provided. In order to achieve this, the engine ( 13 ) is arranged below an operator&#39;s seat ( 21 ). Additionally, a floor frame ( 30 ) supporting the operator&#39;s seat ( 21 ) defines a front partition wall ( 33   b ) and an upper partition wall ( 33   a ) of the engine. Further, the floor frame ( 30 ) is configured so as to be tilt-up. Furthermore, a piping ( 42 ) and a wiring ( 46 ) connected to an equipment ( 41 ) on the floor frame ( 30 ) side are arranged so as to pass through the vicinity of an axis line of a tilt-up supporting point.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a rear end small revolving typehydraulic shovel (a tight tail revolving hydraulic excavator).

BACKGROUND ART

As is well known, a tight tail revolving hydraulic excavator has aprofile in which a revolution track of a rear end of an upper revolvingbody is restricted within an outer width of a base carrier as seen fromthe above, thereby enabling the excavator to work along a side wall of abuilding in a city. In such case, generally known is the one equippedwith a so-called swing type working equipment that is offset toward theouter width of the base carrier for enabling gutter excavation along theside wall of the building.

Accordingly, the upper revolving body seems to be an approximate circlewith its area being small as seen from the above. The swing type workingequipment is attached on a front portion of the small circular upperrevolving body, and an engine, a counterweight, an operator's cab andother equipments are arranged in an area not occupied by the swing typeworking equipment, so that the upper revolving body is configuredcompact.

In the above description, for simply defining the configuration, anoperator's cab represents a whole space for an operator, which includesan operator's seat, a foot floor portion provided in front of theoperator's seat for positioning operator's foot, and a control deviceequipped with a control lever and the like. And the operator's cab isdifferentiated from the operator's seat which merely indicates the seat.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, an example of a tight tail revolvinghydraulic excavator according to a conventional art will be described.FIG. 4 is a side elevation showing a tight tail revolving hydraulicexcavator according to the conventional art, and FIG. 5 is an upper planview showing a primary portion of the hydraulic excavator.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, a tight tail revolving hydraulic excavator 2 isconfigured that an upper revolving body 50 is revolvably mounted on abase carrier 3 so that a track of a revolution radius R of a rear end ofthe upper revolving body 50 is restricted within an outer width B of thebase carrier 3.

The upper revolving body 50 has a revolving frame 51 in a bottom portionthereof, and a working equipment 5 is vertically oscillatably attachedto a front portion of the revolving frame 51 via a swing bracket 4 whichcan swing horizontally by way of a swing cylinder 4 a. And, in order tobalance with the working equipment 5, there are provided a counterweight12 in a rear end of a rear portion of the revolving frame 51, and anengine 13 at the vicinity of a front portion of the counterweight 12.Nearby the engine 13, a frame 52 is vertically provided in an upperportion of the revolving frame 51, and a side partition wall 53, anupper partition wall 54 and a front partition wall 55 of the engine 13are respectively attached to the frame 52.

Provided in front of the front partition wall 55 is an operator's cab 60including an operator's seat 21, a floor frame 61 supporting theoperator's seat 21 and a control lever 22 dedicated to the workingequipment and arranged in a front portion of the floor frame 61. Anequipment enclosure 17, in which a fuel tank, an operating oil tank anda main control valve and the like (all not shown) are arranged, isdisposed adjacent to the right side of the operator's cab 60. And, apilot type proportional control valve 41 and other equipments (notshown) connected to the control lever 22 arranged in the floor frame 61are arranged in a space of the revolving frame 51 located below thefloor frame 61.

For enabling periodic inspection of the engine 13, a height H of thecounterweight 12 is regulated, so that a vertically open/closeinspection cover 16 is attached above the counterweight 12 as shown bychain double-dashed line in FIG. 4. Additionally, for enabling theinspection of the pilot type proportional control valve 41 and the like,an opening is formed in the floor frame 61, and an inspection cap 61 ais detachably attached to the opening so as to close it.

Further, protrusion of a front surface Q of the upper revolving body 50to the front is regulated and also a protruding dimension of the workingequipment 5 to the front of a swing center P is regulated, therebyimproving stability of a vehicle without affecting the length of theworking equipment 5 (hereinafter, referred to as a reach) extendingforward from the swing center P.

According to the configuration of the tight tail revolving hydraulicexcavator 2 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the rear end of the upper revolvingbody 50 will not interfere the side wall of the building when workingalong the side wall of the building in the city, the tight tailrevolving hydraulic excavator 2 can perform gutter excavation along theside wall of the building by swinging the swing type working equipment 5by a predetermined angle and revolving the upper revolving body 50 by apredetermined angle, and the stability of the vehicle can preferably besecured since the protruding dimension toward the front of the swingcenter P is regulated.

In the above-described configuration of the tight tail revolvinghydraulic excavator 2, the inspection cap 61 a is provided forinspection of the pilot type proportional control valve 41 connected tothe control lever 22 and arranged below the floor frame 61. As anotherconventional example, disclosed in JP2000-72048A, on pages 3 to 4, FIG.4 is a hydraulic excavator not limited to a tight tail revolvinghydraulic excavator having a control valve that is coupled via a link toa control lever arranged in an operator's cab capable of tilting-up andis arranged in a revolving frame below a bottom plate (corresponding toa floor plate) of the operator's cab, so that, by aligning a connectingpoint of the control lever and the link with the center of a tilt-upsupporting point of a bottom plate of the operator's cab, the functionof the control valve can be checked while operating the control levereven when the bottom plate of the operator's cab is tilt-up.

However, in the tight tail revolving hydraulic excavator 2 according tothe conventional art shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, there are some problemscaused by that the upper revolving body 50 is configured compact.

As a first problem, since the engine 13 can be accessed only via anopening defined by opening the inspection cover 16, if a failure isoccurred in a part other than the expected inspection/maintenance partof the engine 13, the engine 13 likely needs to be removed or suspendedwith peripheral components, and consequently, the vehicle must bebrought to the repair plant, thus the repair cost and the loss forsuspending operation being increased.

As a second problem, since the protrusion of the front surface Q of theupper revolving body 50 toward the front is regulated due to thenecessity of securing the stability of the vehicle as described above,the floor area of the foot position S of the operator's cab 60 (see FIG.5) becomes narrow, thus likely causing operator's fatigue due torestricting the space for repositioning the operator's foot. Further,with the same reason described above, even when an adjusting mechanism(not shown) of the operator's seat 21 is adjusted concerning theoperator's body size, the effect is limited. Consequently, theconfiguration of the operator's cab 60 is difficult to provide acomfortable seat.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to overcome the problems as set forthabove, and an object of the present invention is to provide a tight tailrevolving hydraulic excavator that can improve maintainability of anengine and secure a wide space for a foot space of an operator's cab.

In order to achieve the above object, in a first configuration, a tighttail revolving hydraulic excavator has an engine below an operator'sseat.

With the first configuration, since the operator's seat and the engineare not lined front and back, the installation position of theoperator's seat can freely be set. Accordingly, the foot space (floorarea) of the operator's cab can widely be secured.

In a second configuration, concerning the first configuration, a floorframe supporting the operator's seat defines a front partition wall andan upper partition wall of the engine.

With the second configuration, following advantages can be attained inaddition to that of the first configuration.

(1) Since the substantially whole engine is exposed only by removing thefloor frame (i.e., tilting-up the floor frame in an embodiment), themaintainability of the engine can remarkably be improved.

(2) Since the front partition wall and the upper partition wall of theengine need not be arranged independently from the floor frame, thestructure of the upper revolving body, in other words, the attachingstructure of the floor frame and the partition walls of the engine aresimplified, thus reducing the number of worker-hour as well as ofcomponents.

In a third configuration, concerning the first and secondconfigurations, the floor frame supporting the operator's seat can betilt-up.

With the third configuration, following advantages can be attained inaddition to that of the first and second configurations.

(1) The whole engine can substantially be exposed only by tilting-up thefloor frame without a crane or the like for maintenance purposes, thusenabling to repair or maintain the engine at the operation site withoutbringing the vehicle to the repair plant. Owing to this, the repair costand the loss for suspending operation can significantly be reduced.

(2) Since the operator's cab arranged on the floor frame issimultaneously tilt-up, the maintainability of a control valve and otherequipments arranged in a space of a revolving frame below the foot spaceof the operator's cab can remarkably be improved.

In a forth configuration, concerning the third configuration, a pipingand a wiring to be connected to the equipments on the floor frame sideare arranged so as to pass through the vicinity of an axis line of atilt-up supporting point.

With the fourth configuration, following advantages can be attained inaddition to that of the third configuration.

(1) Since the change in the length of the piping and the wiring due totilting-up of the floor frame is small, the piping and the wiring willnot be stretched or loosen due to tilting-up. Accordingly, the floorframe can be tilt-up while the piping and the wiring being connected,and even though the floor frame has been tilt-up, the functions of theequipments on the floor frame side can be kept, so that a failure in theengine and other equipments can easily be found, thereby remarkablyimproving the maintainability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevation showing a primary portion of a tight tailrevolving hydraulic excavator according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing the primary portion of the tight tailrevolving hydraulic excavator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation showing the primary portion of the tight tailrevolving hydraulic excavator of FIG. 1 in a maintenance state;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation showing a tight tail revolving hydraulicexcavator according to a conventional art; and

FIG. 5 is a top plan view showing a primary portion of the tight tailrevolving hydraulic excavator of FIG. 4.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

An embodiment of a tight tail revolving hydraulic excavator according tothe present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1to 3.

FIG. 1 is a side elevation showing a primary portion of the tight tailrevolving hydraulic excavator according to the present invention, FIG. 2is a top plan view showing the primary portion of the same hydraulicexcavator, and FIG. 3 is a side elevation showing the primary portion ofthe same hydraulic excavator in a maintenance state. Note that,components having the same functions as that shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 willbe assigned with the same numeric references, and the descriptionthereof will be omitted.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, the tight tail revolving hydraulic excavator 1 isconfigured that an upper revolving body 10 is revolvably mounted above abase carrier 3 so that a track of a revolution radius R of a rear end isrestricted within an outer width B of the base carrier 3.

The upper revolving body 10 has a revolving frame 11 in a bottom portionthereof, and a working equipment 5 is vertically oscillatably attachedto a front portion of the revolving frame 11 via a swing bracket 4attached in a horizontally swingable manner. In order to balance withthe working equipment 5, there are provided a counterweight 12 in a rearend of a rear portion of the revolving frame 11, and an engine 13 in thevicinity of a front portion of the counterweight 12. Nearby the engine13, a frame 14 is vertically provided in an upper portion of therevolving frame 11, and a side partition wall 15 as well as a rearinspection cover 16 of the engine 13 are attached on the frame 14.

In an upper portion of the engine 13, an operator's seat 21 is arrangedat a position closer to the front with a floor frame 30 supporting theoperator's seat 21, and a control lever 22 is arranged in a frontportion of the floor frame 30. The operator's seat 21, floor frame 30and control lever 22 define an operator's cab 20.

The floor frame 30 is configured of side walls 31, 32 located on theleft and right sides, and a floor plate 33 connecting the side walls 31,32, the floor plate 33 having a stepped profile when viewed from thelateral side (see FIG. 1), so that a rear portion 33 a defines an upperpartition wall 33 a of the engine 13, a center portion 33 b defines afront partition wall 33 b of the engine 13 and a front portion 33 cdefines a floor plate 33 c of the operator's seat.

Additionally, brackets 30 a, 30 a are attached on left and rightportions of the lower front of the floor frame 30, the brackets 30 a, 30a being rotatably coupled to brackets 11 a, 11 a provided in the frontportion of the revolving frame 11 with pins 30 b, 30 b. Further, aflange 30 c attached on a rear end of the floor frame 30 is removablyfastened on the frame 14 with a bolt screw 30 d. With this arrangement,the floor frame 30 can be tilt-up about the pins 30 b, 30 b as asupporting point with the bolt screw 30 d being removed (the state shownin FIG. 3).

A pilot type proportional control valve 41 connected to a lower endportion of the control lever 22 is attached on a lower surface of thefloor frame 30. A piping (hydraulic hosepipe) 42 connected to the pilottype proportional control valve 41 is arranged so as to pass through thevicinity of an axis line of a tilt-up supporting point, i.e. the pins 30b, and fixed in the revolving frame 11 with a clamp 42 a. Similarly, awiring (wire harness) 46 connected to an equipment such as an operationpanel (not shown) located on the floor frame 30 is arranged so as topass through the vicinity of the axis line of the tilt-up supportingpoint and fixed in the floor frame 30 and the revolving frame 11respectively with clamps 46 a, 46 b. With such arrangement, the changein the length of the piping 42 and the wiring 46 due to tilting-up ofthe floor frame 30 become small, so that the piping and the wiring willnot be stretched or loosen due to tilting-up (see FIG. 3).

According to the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, followingadvantages and effects can be obtained.

(1) Since the operator's seat 21 is arranged in the upper front area ofthe engine 13, the position of the operator's seat 21 can be set freelyin the front and back directions without the restriction caused by thelocation of the engine 13. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the space (thefloor area) of the foot position S in the operator's cab 20 can widelybe secured, which provides the comfortable seat concerning theoperator's body size when using an adjusting mechanism (not shown) forthe operator's seat 21.

(2) As for the floor plate 33 of the floor frame 30, since the rearportion 33 a defines the upper partition wall 33 a of the engine 13 andthe central portion 33 b defines the front partition wall 33 b of theengine 13, merely removing the floor frame 30 (i.e., tilting-up thefloor frame 30 in the above-described embodiment) can substantiallyexpose the substantially whole engine 13, thereby remarkably improvingthe maintainability of the engine 13.

Additionally, since the upper partition wall 33 a and the frontpartition wall 33 b of the engine 13 are integrally formed and are notseparated from the floor frame 30, the structure of the upper revolvingbody 10, in other words, the attaching structure of the floor frame 30and the partition walls of the engine are simplified, thus reducing thenumber of worker-hour as well as of components.

(3) As shown in FIG. 3, since the floor frame 30 is arranged to betilt-up, the whole engine 13 can substantially be exposed by tilting-upthe floor frame 30 without a crane or the like for maintenance purposes,accordingly enabling to repair or maintain the engine at the operationsite without bringing the vehicle to the repair plant. Owing to this,the repair cost and the loss for suspending operation can significantlybe reduced. Additionally, the maintainability of the pilot typeproportional control valve 41 and other equipments (not shown) arrangedbelow the foot space of the operator's cab 20 in the space of therevolving frame 11 can remarkably be improved like the above-describedadvantage.

(4) Since the piping (hydraulic hosepipe) 42 and the wiring (wireharness) 46 connected to the pilot type proportional control valve 41and other equipments (not shown) arranged on the floor frame 30 side arearranged so that the piping 42 and the wiring 46 pass through thevicinity of the tilt-up supporting point, the floor frame 30 can betilt-up while the piping 42 and the wiring 46 are connected.Accordingly, even while the floor frame 30 is tilt-up, since thefunctions of the equipments on the floor frame 30 side can be kept, afailure in the engine and other equipments can easily be found, therebyremarkably improving the maintainability.

Incidentally, in the above-described embodiment, although the hydraulichosepipe 42 and the wire harness 46 are exemplified as the piping andthe wiring connected to the equipments on the floor frame 30, it is notlimited thereto, and for instance, a refrigerant piping, a hot waterpiping and a temperature sensor piping etc. may be applied, in case thata cabin and an automatic air conditioner (both not shown) are providedon the floor frame 30.

Further, when the floor frame 30 is tilt-up, a labor-saver using atleast any way of gas pressure, hydraulic pressure, spring force, feedscrew and balance weight can be used.

Thus, the tight tail revolving hydraulic excavator can be configuredcompact, in which the maintainability of the engine can remarkably beimproved and the foot space of the operator's cab can widely be secured.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention is useful as the tight tail revolving hydraulicexcavator that can improve the maintainability of the engine and securesthe wide foot space of the operator's cab.

1-3. (canceled)
 4. A tight tail revolving hydraulic excavator having anengine below an operator's seat, wherein a floor frame supporting theoperator's seat with a control lever disposed in a front portion thereofhas a stepped portion defined by a front partition wall, an upperpartition wall of the engine, and a floor plate of an operator's cab. 5.The tight tail revolving hydraulic excavator according to claim 4,wherein the floor frame supporting the operator's seat is elevated in arear portion thereof about a tilt up supporting point provided in afront portion of a revolving frame of the rear end small revolving typehydraulic excavator.
 6. The tight tail revolving hydraulic excavatoraccording to claim 4, wherein a piping and a wiring connected to anequipment provided on the floor frame side are arranged so as to passthrough the vicinity of an axis line of the tilt-up supporting point. 7.The tight tail revolving hydraulic excavator according to claim 5,wherein a piping and a wiring connected to an equipment provided on thefloor frame side are arranged so as to pass through the vicinity of anaxis line of the tilt-up supporting point.